Surrender, Responsibility, and Choice: The Human Being’s Real Test
21 February 2021
Changing Tools, Recurring Questions
The ages in which people live change. The tools we use, our ways of communicating, and our methods of working also change. But some questions we ask ourselves remain the same: Why do I act differently even though I know what is right? What do I do in the face of injustice? Which value do I abandon when afraid? When reading the accounts in Surah Al-A’raf, we do not merely learn what happened in the past. We also try to consider how those accounts touch our choices today. An event may be distant in time, but human pride, anxiety, expectation, and responsibility are very close to us.
This lesson proceeds through the call the Prophet Shu’ayb directed to his people. Worshiping Allah, preserving proper measure, not diminishing people’s due, and not spreading corruption are described together. This connection reminds us of something important: Faith is not merely a sentence we say about ourselves. What we do when confronted with another person’s rights is also part of our lives. While reading, let us not direct every question at someone else. What standard exists in my transactions, family, and work? How can I apply the truth described within my own circumstances? With these questions, we can look more carefully into the account. In this way, we see the mirror these events hold up to our own behavior instead of settling only for listing others’ wrongs.
Giving Advice without Forgetting the Right to Choose
Wanting someone to find what is right and trying to decide in their place are different. We can advise, explain what we know, and try to set an example through our own behavior. But we cannot create sincere faith by frightening, belittling, or forcing the other person. The lesson particularly recalls the principle of no compulsion in religion. When approaching someone, we need to recognize their personality, need to think, and room to decide. If, while considering ourselves defenders of truth, we commit injustice through our method, there is a serious contradiction here. Wanting good does not make every method right.
We need the same standard when we consider a loved one’s behavior wrong. First, we can understand what they think, explain why we are concerned, and listen to their questions. We do not have to turn every conversation into a battle for victory. Someone’s not being immediately convinced does not require us to lose respect for them. While taking our faith seriously, let us also take their rights seriously. Being responsible for our decisions does not mean we have the right to manage someone else’s entire life. Knowing our own limits can change both the language of our advice and the quality of our relationship.
Let Us Not Seek Proper Measure Only on the Scales
The Prophet Shu’ayb’s call includes the warning to give full measure and weight. If we confine this to scales in a shop, we miss many of its expressions in daily life. The quality of a product we sell, the scope of a service we provide, and the effort we promise for a task should also be presented honestly. The other person should know what they are receiving. Concealing a deficiency or later changing an agreed matter in our own favor damages fairness even if it brings visible gain. The standard is not merely whether we are satisfied at the end.
We also need to respect another person’s share within the family and close relationships. Imposing our own wish without ever listening to someone, leaving all responsibility to one person, or withholding what is due to them wears relationships down. Sometimes a great injustice begins with behavior we consider small. The lesson’s example of shifting a land boundary slightly is thought-provoking in this respect. Violating someone else’s right for a handspan of gain can turn into great enmity over time. Let us not consider a right insignificant because it is small. Justice is a standard that must also be preserved in details.
What Do We Mean When Speaking of Trust?
It is easy to speak of trust and surrender on comfortable days. The real struggle begins when the outcome we desire confronts the behavior we know to be right. Do we bend our honesty because we fear a loss? Do we accept a wrong we know to avoid missing an opportunity? These questions call us to understand our own decision, not to measure someone else’s faith. People may not always have the same strength. Seeing where we are weak is a more useful beginning than concealing it.
We can also think of trust through our daily relationships. When entrusting an important matter to someone, we consider both their intention and their ability to bear the responsibility. As we reflect on trusting Allah, let us take care that it does not remain merely fine words. Still, reliance on Allah does not mean abandoning precautions and effort. We investigate our need, evaluate our means, and seek a right path. While accepting that we cannot manage the whole outcome through our own power, we do not give up the right task we can do today. Responsibility and surrender are not mutually exclusive attitudes.
Defense or Return in the Face of a Mistake?
The lesson recalls the accounts of Adam and Iblis to consider the attitude taken after wrongdoing. Claiming that a person will never make a mistake is unrealistic. But there is a great difference between acknowledging a mistake and defending it by continually blaming others. Saying “I did this, and I want to correct it” opens a door. Saying “Everyone does it, there was no other way, or you would have done the same in my place” may close off the point we need to consider. Sometimes, while trying to protect ourselves, we allow the same wrong to continue.
Repentance means turning anew without denying responsibility. If we harmed someone, we need to make amends; if we said something wrongly, we need to correct it and work to prevent repetition. Let us not merely express regret and leave the behavior unchanged. At the same time, let us not lose all hope because we struggled once. Recognizing our mistake does not mean we can do nothing right afterward. Asking for forgiveness and help is a sincere act in which people accept their limitations. Let us remain open to correction rather than presenting ourselves as flawless.
Let Us Not Wait to Be Perfect before Beginning
One part of the lesson discusses the hesitations of people newly beginning worship. People may postpone beginning because they say, “I do not know enough, I cannot gather my attention, or I make mistakes while learning.” The basic call here is not to regard the learning process as completed all at once. Just as we progress step by step in a new skill, we may need patience in acts of worship whose meaning we are trying to learn. Let us turn to reliable knowledge to learn what we do not know. But let us not keep ourselves in the same place with the thought that we cannot take any step before every deficiency has ended.
This does not mean disregarding learning. On the contrary, it means turning our intention into continual effort. Researching a verse’s meaning, learning what a supplication says, or setting aside time to gather our attention during the day may seem small. But when continued, it grows in its place within our lives. Instead of competing with what someone else does, let us look at our own sincerity and development. Let us not turn our worship into a display of superiority. While seeing our own shortcomings, let us not belittle another person’s beginning. Sometimes the most valuable support is not frightening a beginner but accompanying their learning patiently.
Turning Doubt into a Question That Invites Understanding
When we experience uncertainty about something, we do not have to suppress it immediately or consider it a deficiency that defines us entirely. We can ask what we do not understand, read, and research. The lesson’s emphasis on continually asking questions matters in this respect. To connect what we learn with our lives, we need to understand truly what is being said. Liking an answer does not make it right; being disturbed by it does not automatically show it is wrong. We need to look at its source, reasoning, and context.
The same care matters with claims we hear from people. Someone who says they know the future with certainty may use our expectations to influence our decisions. A statement’s later resembling an event does not confirm all the speaker’s claims. Let us not surrender to an account merely because it suits our own desire. Let us do the research we can and not act as though we know the unknown future. Thinking, consulting, and evaluating possibilities when deciding are possible. But this preparation is not the same as holding the outcome absolutely in hand.
We Cannot Govern Someone Else’s Choice through Our Own Thoughts
The lesson questions the idea that merely wanting intensely will guarantee an outcome. I may greatly desire a project; other people also want the same project. I may want to form a relationship with someone; they also have their own will and choice. Therefore, we cannot consider our desires independently of real-world conditions and other people’s rights. Dreaming may move us to act, but it does not automatically complete the work we need to do. Let us not overlook concrete aspects such as product quality, our effort, and the trust we build.
This example also reminds us not to lose balance while attaching ourselves to an outcome. We can pursue a goal, plan, and work. But if we believe everything must be as we want, our hurt may grow when life changes. Let saying “Insha’Allah” not be merely a habitual expression here. Let it remind us that we do not know the whole future and that our own choice will meet others’ choices. When our plan is disrupted, let us look at what we can change. Being able to review our method while preserving the right purpose is not losing determination; it is proceeding responsibly.
The Effects of Good and Evil Can Spread
Our behavior may not remain limited to the moment in which it occurs. The support we give a child may influence their approach to someone else. Knowledge we teach may continue to be used after us. Likewise, the hurt or harm caused by an injustice may be carried into other relationships. The lesson reflects on this continuity. We cannot know how far every effect will extend. But remembering that what we say and do does not remain within a closed space belonging only to us can make us act more carefully.
For this reason, let us not belittle the value of a small good deed. Giving someone their due, encouraging a student, or correcting false information may ease someone else’s path. In the face of wrongdoing, too, let us not withdraw from responsibility by saying, “Everyone does it this way.” A behavior’s being widespread does not make it just. We can choose our own contribution. We may not have the power to change everything, but we often have room to choose how we treat a person. Let us try to use that space to increase goodness instead of producing more harm.
Preserving Our Standard under Pressure
Threats and pressure also appear in the account of the Prophet Shu’ayb. Those who do not want their own order to change try to force another person’s belief and choice. When reading this example, let us not think only of powerful people in the past. Could we also be using a little authority to silence someone else? What injustices does the attitude “What I say will happen” cause at home, at work, or within a community? Defending truth does not mean making our own power limitless. We, too, need to follow a standard that protects others’ rights.
In this context, the call to patience also makes us consider being able to stand without abandoning what is right or turning to injustice. Patience does not mean ignoring harm or not asking for help. We can protect our boundaries, seek support, and defend our rights. While doing this, let us try not to allow fear or anger to govern all our decisions. It may not be easy; sometimes we need to rethink and rest. What matters is not abandoning the right standard entirely because we struggle. Where we demand justice, let us ensure that our own behavior also remains just.
Taking Today’s Choice Seriously
We may not be able to put our entire life in order at once. Still, there is something right we can do today. We can give full measure, listen more carefully to someone, acknowledge a mistake, or postpone a judgment we would make without research. Bringing the accounts into our own lives becomes possible through such concrete steps. Let us want what we learn to make us more responsible, not to make us appear superior. Surrender does not mean ceasing to think; it means turning toward what is right by thinking, working, and knowing our limits. Without forcing others, we can also use our own will responsibly.
May our Lord give us the understanding to see what is right, the humility to accept our mistakes, and the determination to practice the truth. May He grant us the ability to ask for help when we struggle, give thanks amid blessings, and not forget justice when approaching people. Let our small actions point in the same direction as our grand words. In an argument, a purchase, or when an expectation is disappointed, let us examine ourselves again. Which choice can I make more honestly today? When we keep this question alive, learning ceases to be merely listening to the past and becomes an effort that guides our life today.